Sea Urchin Ragout

Slightly OT but there was an interesting article about Scottish langoustine in the Glasgow Herald a few weeks ago http://sundayheraldsalon.com/salon/2006/10...tine_ameri.html

Small, pedantic point but JB is Belgian (and proud ) Interesting review though. How do you think GR will be received overall on the NY dining scene now you've been and eaten there?

If any of the Yes people change their mind or can't make the date offered...I'll gladly take their place

Biasco do quite a few induction hobs in that price range. I've used them recently to buy a cooker & dishwasher and they were pretty quick and painless to deal with. As far as I know, there are no DF cookers on the market that combine both electric and gas oven...

I was there recently for a Monday lunch. The place was nearly empty so we got the undivided attention of all the staff! Here's a picture from the outside...needless to say I made sure we passed the restaurants a few times during our stay in Stockholm so I could stand and stare inside Started with a great selection of breads. The most memorable one was a type of fennel-seeded dark bread which tasted amazing. Also note the flat bread which I assume is typically Swedish as our hotel also served it at breakfast as did various other places. My starter was "Bleak roe from Kalix on malt brioche with lemon cream and cured onion". It was absolutely and utterly sensational. Never tasted such exquisite brioche, every lemon cream/onion/Brioche/roe mouthful was perfect. Partner chose for the "Herb marinated herring with “Västerbotten cheese” and crisp bread". Good tastes all round...the cheese / herring combo worked but was not exceptional. Mains, I went for "Roe deer “Wallenbergare” with peas, almond pommes purée and ligonberries". Not very exciting but exactly the type of perfectly executed comfort food I was looking for. The almond pommes purée were creamy without being too buttery and just had a perfect hint of almond which complemented the peas very well. The other mains was, however, a much better choice in hindsight. Dill cod with horseradish, bleak roe, poached quail egg and oyster foam. Superb. The oyster foam and dill infused the whole dish, the cod and horseradish worked...I kept trying to steal more bits from her plate which the maitre d' seemed to take as a compliment! Overall, Leijontornet greatly impressed from the moment of reservation (they offered us various alternatives when we originally asked for a Sunday evening slot) right to getting the very reasonable bill. Also went to Mistral during the Stockholm visit...more about this later on once I have deciphered my notes!

Just got the knock-back email. I had sent my request 1 minute past midnight on that day. Asked for a table for four, at ANY time in the season (was even willing to sacrifice Glastonbury), told him we'd be happy to wash plates and eat in the kitchen if necessary. All to no avail. Gutted...

He was rated 6th richest chef in Britain in a recentish Indie article...(snippet below) so I doubt he's desperate for money. Having just read his book, I am absolutely amazed (and a tad disappointed) he is willing to jump on the media bandwagon again though. "6. MARCO PIERRE WHITE, 45 Worth: £10m Profile: The original celebrity chef. After arriving in London aged 16, the Leeds-born Yorkshireman raised on a council estate worked under Albert Roux and Michel Roux at Le Gavroche and Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, before opening Harvey's in Wandsworth (the acclaimed Chez Bruce now stands on the site). White became known for his food and his temper, and trained the young Gordon Ramsay. He now runs nine restaurants in the capital (four with the jockey Frankie Dettori) and three country inns. Restaurants: Quo Vadis; Mirabelle; L'Escargot; Drones; Belvedere; Frankie's at Criterion, plus three other Frankie's (Knightsbridge, Chiswick and Putney); Highwayman Inn, Oxon; Yew Tree, Berks; The Talkhouse, Oxon TV shows: None Books: White Heat (1990); Wild Food from Land and Sea (1994); Canteen Cuisine (1995); The Mirabelle Cookbook (1999); The Star Chef's Cookbook (2002); White Slave (2006) Other commercial interests: White endorses Beka cookware, which sells at Selfridges and Harrods for between £50 and £250 a piece. Personal interests: Fishing, deer stalking Accolades: First British-born chef and youngest in the world to be awarded three Michelin stars. Finances: In an interview with The Observer last year, White insisted that, despite running restaurants, he did not own anything. However, Companies House shows that he is a director of five businesses - Ota Resources, Sellican, Marco Pierre White Catering, Dettori International and Baker's Dozen. He has a 50 per cent stake in the "general commercial company" Sellican, which has assets of £1.8m, and a 40 per cent stake in Ota Resources, which has assets of £1.6m and made a profit of £2.6m in the year to March 2004. He also has a 23 per cent stake in MPW Catering, which has not yet filed accounts. Last year, Baker's Dozen made a profit of £120,000. White has a house in Holland Park, London."

Rather than mix garlic with butter, I prefer putting the bread (preferrably ciabatta) under the grill for a couple of minutes and then rubbing the toasted side with a garlic clove until the clove has disappeared completely!

Just reading through that list, I'm curious whether anyone has tried Le sablé de Wissant? I've been to Wissant a few times but never realised they had a famous cheese?

That first soup sounds and looks spectacular! Can you share the recipe with us?

A traditional Belgian meal my gran used to cook me at least once every two weeks was horse steaks, mash and salsifis en hollandaise. I have been missing horse meat enormously since emigrating to the UK and on occasion taken a bag of frozen steaks on the plane on my way back from a visit home.

It seems the entire Roux family will be appearing on Friday's Celebrity Masterchef final as judges. Should be interesting....

My friends were on honeymoon at Read's Hotel in Mallorca (http://www.readshotel.com) recently. They had cooking tuition from chef/director Marc Fosh whom they were extremely enthusiastic about; I notice the restaurant has a Michelin star. The food, by all accounts is inventive and makes inventive use of local produce. Apparently, there are a few other restaurants around Palma ran by Fosh pupils which are also very good by all accounts. Sorry no further details though

I recently discovered Geoffrey Smeddle's method (he is a Scottish chef who has recently taken over the Peat Inn near St Andrews in Scotland) He describes a way of scrambling eggs au bain marie. So yesterday, I boiled a pot of water, dropped in an oven-proof breakfast bowl which held two eggs (very slightly beat, just enough to start the yolk running into the white) and a nob of butter. I beat the eggs ever so slighlty while keeping the pan on a low heat (the water barely boiling) and added a touch of cream at the end (5 minutes or so). Out came the fluffiest, best tasting scrambled eggs I've had for a very long time.

Magnus Lindgren, mdibiaso and Badabing, thanks for your recs! I have booked reservations with Mistral and Esperanto... One last thing I'm looking for is a recommendation for the more typical standard Swedish far, husmanskost (?). Any places you would specifically return to for the good old Swedish classics? Thanks again...

Here's a few (highly subjective) suggestions which will not break the bank. Some of them are not really local flavours but somewhat representative of Scotland's immigrant cuisine Edinburgh: Original Kushi's (Punjabi-Asian) 26-30 Potterrow Edinburgh EH8 9PP Glasgow: Asia style (Malaysian) 185-189 St Georges Road Glasgow on the way to Inverness: Ballachulish House Hotel (1 Mich star but excellent lunches at £25ish) Ballachulish Argyll PH49 4JX www.ballachulishhouse.com/ Inverness: Rocpool (modern Scottish) 1 Ness Walk Inverness IV3 5NE www.rocpool.com some good suggestions in link below as well but you might have to trawl through their websites to find out prices etc http://www.fine-dining-guide.com/1PercentC...tland1to58.html

I'm off to Stockholm in October and browsing through this board and a few others, I'm amazed that "Edsbacka Krog", the only 2 Michelin starred-establishment isn't very high on anyone's list. Has anyone tried it recently? I'd like some advice from a fellow eg'er before I shell out a king's ransom. Also wonder whether anyone has been to Mistral, dubbed "Sweden's answer to El Bulli"...a 6-table place with dishes like almond and Jerusalem artichoke soup with fried apples; mackerel sashimi with crisped pork skin and oyster foam, caviar and fresh herbs, and the signature lamb's-neck confit in pimento-ey chorizo fat